1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for minimizing fecal contamination of poultry by removing the fecal matter from the rectal cavity of slaughtered poultry prior to venting and eviscerating the poultry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the majority of the prior art, the fecal matter was not removed from the rectal cavity of slaughtered poultry as a separate step during processing, but was left in the rectal cavity of the poultry until the entire packet of entrails was removed during the evisceration process. In the one known device developed for the removal of fecal matter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,539, the poultry is passed between two rotating plates, one of which applies pressure against the wall of the poultry's abdominal cavity sufficient to discharge the fecal matter from the poultry through its anus.
In poultry processing employing the prior art, fecal matter contaminates the poultry either by exiting the entrails, through natural openings or through tears created by the machinery or by spilling out over the poultry during the entrail packet removal process. Theoretically, subsequent water washes remove the fecal matter from the poultry's inner and outer skin surfaces. In practice, however, not all of the fecal matter is washed off and the poultry remains contaminated. Such fecal matter contamination remains on the poultry throughout the processing, packaging, shipping, and retail stages, and is a cause for many human diseases such as salmonella and campylobacter poisoning. U.S.D.A. standards provide for the complete removal of fecal matter from poultry, the failure of which renders the poultry legally unfit for sale for human consumption.